It seems that fringe Republican congressman Ron Paul is striking a chord with online political junkies, bolstering his otherwise slim 2008 Presidential prospects.

Republican strategists point out that libertarians, who make up a small but vocal portion of the Republican base, intrinsically gravitate toward the Web’s anything-goes, leave-me-alone nature. They also say that [Paul’s] Web presence proves that the Internet can be a great equalizer in the race, giving a much-needed boost to a fringe candidate with little money and only a shadow of the campaign staffs marshaled by Romney, McCain and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Yep, with the help of the online hordes, Paul will build a campaign to rival that of Howard Dean’s. And we all know how successful Dean’s Web-centric Presidential bid was.

Again, perspective: Objects on the Internet often appear to be larger than they are in real (offline) life. Paul could get a billion friends on his MySpace page, and that will translate to little or no additional votes during caucus/primary season — y’know, when the shows of support actually count. Not only won’t he directly get any support, but his chances of influencing the Republican platform toward more libertarian-leaning policies diminish as well (not that that is a factor — despite 8 years of neocon undermining, Republicans are still perceived as the smaller-government party anyway).

Paul still has a decent shot of getting elected President via his online buzz. President of Second Life, that is. The White House? No.